Bestial
by Aimsaru
Summary: The truth never occurred to her. The signs had been so easy to ignore. The hints had been so miniscule, especially given the fact that she didn't want to see the truth. Didn't want to know what had been staring her in the face, peering at her from the shadows. Manipulative blue eyes laughing behind the safety of a mask.


**A/N:**

This story got away from me a bit, it became much longer than I meant it to. The theme was manipulation and the duality of Korra/Avatar and Amon/Noatak. I'm a bit disappointed with it but at least there is SMUT! Could be cannon compliant if you squint really hard.

**Description:** The truth never occurred to her. The signs had been so easy to ignore. The hints had been so miniscule, especially given the fact that she didn't want to see the truth. Didn't want to know what had been staring her in the face, peering at her from the shadows.

Manipulative blue eyes laughing behind the safety of a mask.

**Pairing: Amorra/Noarra**

**Rating: Hard M**

**Warnings:** I'd put Korra at almost 18 in this story so be aware that there is sex with a person of under 18 here. Consensual with a bit of dub-con later. Angst. Manipulation.

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"If you could only see the beast you've made of me

I held it in but now it seems you've set it running free

Screaming in the dark, I howl when we're apart

drag my teeth across your chest to taste your beating heart" –Howl by Florence and the Machine

_**The Beauty is a Beast**_

She had first gone to The Water's Edge on a lark. It was a dark husk of a place, the kind of hole-in-the-wall establishment where one would expect nefarious dealings to go down. Upon entry; however, the bar revealed itself as just a dark escape for weary travelers and ship wrecked souls. It was a melancholy place where she could be alone with her thoughts while surrounded by people. Somehow, on that day, it was exactly what she needed.

.

_The docks were louder at night, salt air streaming in from the bay and streetlights reflecting off the water. The little corner of shops and eateries came alive after sun down, music streaming into the dark alley ways and people of all sorts and stations wandering the streets. A drunken dance and stumble of feet traveling from place to place. Rowdy and uncontrolled laughter cutting through the sounds. Glass shattering on street cobbles. This was the Republic City that she didn't know. Her heart pounded as she pulled her hood closer around her face and approached the entry way to her destination._

_She curled her shoulders in, hiding in the dark as she walked into the shoddy bar. It was dim in here, just the right atmosphere to allow her mind to wander without purchase. To escape from suffocating Air-benders and pro-bending captains. To ignore and be ignored by others who had the same idea. To get away for an hour or so._

_She settled herself at a table near the door, awkwardly plopping herself down while her eyes darted around, seeing if her presence was noted. If she was recognized. After a few moments she breathed out in relief, settling down into the brown leather seat._

_No one would bother her here. No one would approach to call her out on what she was or wasn't doing enough of. No one would crowd her and ask for her autograph, her blessing, her help._

"_Can I buy you a drink?" His voice startled her out of her reverie and she jumped, head swinging to the side._

_She blinked up at him, at his curious expression and the question still lighting in his eyes._

"_I'm Underage." She stated simply, hoping that he would leave._

"_Oh. That's a no then." He answered with a smirk and Korra was struck by how handsome he was. Dark skin and muscular build. All wide shoulders, full lips, and electric blue eyes._

"_Too bad, I was hoping to loosen you up and learn all of your secrets," He added, his voice was tantalizing. A warm, full bodied bass. Seductive._

_She blushed, embarrassed by his forwardness and the direction of her thoughts._

"_May I sit?" he asked calmly, not waiting for an answer this time before sitting across from her, his ankles bumping hers and resting there._

"_What's your name?"_

_She hesitated; her name could give away her identity. An identity that tended to have a very polarizing effect of people; especially now, when the war was in full swing. She sat up a bit straighter, ready for his reaction-in either direction._

"_Korra."_

"_Noa," he replied and she was surprised at his nonchalance._

"_Where you born here?" there was a twinkle in his eye that indicated that he knew exactly who she was. It was…off putting. Off putting and intriguing. _

"_No, I was born and raised in the tribe," to verify her words she slid her hood back, revealing the blue beads and wolftail that marked her identity. _

"_Me as well." He smiled, and it was predatory, a snarl of lip as he searched her face. He nodded as if finding her pleasing before indicating to the bartender with a flick of fingers._

"_What part?" she offered in question, wondering why she was lengthening their exchange._

"_The Northern village, out in rural Arnook."_

_He was a good conservationist. Asking her about the Southern Water Tribe culture and comparing it to the North. He was a good story teller, as well. His words falling like water, until she found herself opening up to him, leaning in. His eyes were warm and inviting and when he stood, moving to her side of the booth and sitting beside her, drawing a map on the tabletop with his fingers she found herself staring._

_His eyes slid to the side, and there was a glint there that wasn't there before. It made her stomach clench. She opened her mouth to speak but she was shocked back into silence when a warm palm pressed into her thigh. Burning through her wool pants._

_He pressed into her, his hand moving up inch-by-inch as he breathed into her ear, the scent of alcohol tangy on his tongue. She wondered what he would taste like. _

"_You look nervous, should have had that drink. Then you wouldn't be feeling much of anything."_

"_Then how could I resist your advances?"_

"_Exactly."_

_Her heart was thudding hard in her chest. She had known lust before, had tempered the flames of desire between her legs while imagining ember eyes and messy hair. But this was new. No one had ever touched her like this. She gasped as his lips brushed over her throat. No one had ever been so forward with her, so brave in her presence. It was strange to feel this role reversal._

_He intimidated her._

_Noa pulled away from her reluctantly, "Underage," he said as if reminding himself. Reminding her of how far this was going and that she hadn't even tried to stop him._

_Embarrassment flared inside of her. She felt shameless, awkward and uncomfortable in her own skin. _

"_I-I need to be getting home," she mumbled at last, shoving at his hands and hurrying from the booth as soon as her path was clear._

_She pulled her hood back up around her head and without a last farewell or wave she was out the door and back into the cold crisp air of the night._

_Deep gulping breaths cooled her lungs and once she had her bearings she was off, steady steps carrying her down an alley and back to the dock._

_There was a whisper of cloth and then she was being turned, her back shoved into brick wall and a strong chest pressing against her own. His lips were warm, wet, and insistent prodding at her mouth._

_Her eyes were wide, staring at his face, the curve of his jaw and the curl of dark hair. His tongue was pushing against her lips and she opened to him with a gasp, allowing him to steal her breath. Her chest was constricting with warmth, sliding down into her belly and coiling in her sex as his leg pried her thighs apart. _

_She could feel him, hot and hard against her core and she moaned. Shamelessly. She was practically dry fucking this stranger in the middle of an alley way. His hands tugged at her hair as he thrust his hips against hers, leaving her throbbing with want._

"_Ah!" she groaned and he pulled away cursing. _

"_Come back to my apartment with me," he growled and his tone was so threatening, so demanding, that she found herself shoving him away._

_She mumbled an apology before hurrying away from this strange off putting man and his shocking audaciousness._

.

She had the right idea then. Although if it happened now, with all the wisdom she had gained since their first meeting, she would have _run_ and never looked back.

But as it was, she couldn't get him out of her mind. He had become a fixture in her dreams, the object of her fantasies. She should have run away, but she ended up falling right into his trap.

.

_She couldn't stop thinking of him. It had only been two days and she was already returning to the place where they had met, hoping to find him there again._

_The Water's Edge was dark as usual. Only a few patrons were hiding in the corners, already deep in their cups. She had only taken a few steps inside, wondering if coming here had been a mistake. No good could come of this- This older man with his well-woven words and Cheshire smiles. His warm tongue and hard body. She had almost convinced herself to turn back, was rocking back onto her heels and ready to spin for the door when she sensed him._

_Fire crackling up her spine and over her skin. The heat of his gaze burning through her._

_He stood, viper quick and languid as a cat. Stalking his prey. _

"_Back to finish our conversation?" he asked, breath tickling the hairs at her nape as his hand wound around her arm, leading her to their booth from a few nights ago. She let him guide her, her thoughts in turmoil and her stomach tightening at his touch._

"_Would you like a drink?" he asked easily, his lips held in a smirk. _

"_Still underage." _

"_Stop reminding me."_

_Silence fell for warm moments, his eyes searching, staring into her. Through her. She wondered if he could read her thoughts, wondered if he knew how much she felt like a rabbit in his presence. When she was so used to being a wolf, a lion. _

"_I'm glad you came back," he said after a minute and she decidedly ignored his words and the way her head swam in his company._

"_What do you do?" Pride swelled up in her chest as she managed to guide the conversation to safer waters. It was a small triumph in her attempt to take her power back. _

"_Odd jobs, mostly. Never very much money and never very much fun. My hobbies consume most of my time."_

"_What are your hobbies?" she mentally patted herself on the back; she sounded much more confident than she felt._

"_Reading, writing…," he licked his lips and her eyes followed the motion._

"_What do you write?" the voice that came from her was foreign, husky. She blushed._

_He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, "Manifestos."_

"_Now you're teasing me," she accused, her lips puffing out in a gentle pout._

"_I thought that it was understood that that's what this is. A tease."_

"_Is it?" She asked a playful light coloring her tone._

"_Well, you're here, looking like that, and you won't come to my apartment."_

_Deep blue eyes stared into her own, "Not to mention that you are far too young for me to want you to."_

"_What if I've changed my mind?" her words came out in a breathy jumble, her cheeks glowing with heat._

"_Have you?"_

"_Yes," her voice wavered but there was no hesitation in her answer._

"_Then I'd make you mine."_

_The way he said it, the curl of his lip and the raspy quality to his tone was irresistible. She gasped, leaning into him, covered by the darkness of the table as he gripped her chin and covered her mouth with his._

_His kiss was sinful, tongue snaking in and coaxing hers out to play. Tasting her and curving his hand over her face, helping to angle her until his kiss was so deep that her toes were curling in her boots. His touch was scorching and she was putty in his hands, waiting to be molded. _

"_Would you like that?" _

"_Yes."_

_._

She had agreed to this mysterious man, had given him her innocence and left herself open to his eventual betrayal. Ignoring her misgivings; Ignoring his warnings.

And he did. Warn her, that is.

.

"_I'm going to be the death of you, you know?" he whispered against her neck._

_And she did. Her heart was pounding so hard against her ribs that she was sure that it was going to burst._

_His hands were everywhere. Sliding under her shirt and touching skin that had never been touched. Her breathing was harsh to her ears as he roughly shoved the garment up and over her head, darting down to take her nipple in his mouth, his tongue hot through the material of her wrappings._

_Heavy hands with long fingers stole down her chest, between the valley of her breasts, before traveling lower, over ticklish stomach muscles and down to the front of her pants. _

_He growled, low in his throat and Korra shivered as her pants were pushed to the floor. Warm lips were at her throat, teeth scraping at the soft flesh until her legs were shaking, and she was held up only by the arms that she had flung around his shoulders. Her fingers fumbled with the dark hair at his nape, nervousness causing her movements to be jerky and unsure as she touched him, even in this innocent place._

_She cried out as he bit down, hard, on the space of skin between her neck and shoulder. Her knees buckled and then she was being lifted up into strong arms and carried, in a daze, over to the bed._

_He set her down more carefully than she would have expected, his lips lingering on the spot that he had abused, laving at it soothingly._

"_Take off your bindings," he whispered in her ear, pulling away to undo the buttons on his shirt._

_She blinked at him owlishly, trying to think through the muddled fog in her brain before she came back to herself, sitting up slowly and obeying his request. His gaze was burning into her, pulsing with her heart until she was blushing profusely, her fingertips floundering on the material that covered her breasts._

_She gasped as his hands gripped her own, taking over until she was nude except for her plain underwear. Her breast bouncing and nipples hardening as the air met her skin._

"_Lay back," he commanded as he undid his pants and stepped free of them._

_Korra scooted back until her head could reach the pillows at the opposite end of the bed. She lay back quietly, her hands itching to cover herself. Her legs straight and thighs touching. Her entire body tense._

_He was as slow as honey, crawling up from the bottom of the bed, kissing up from her ankle to her knee and then tasting the skin of her thigh until Korra was grasping the sheet in her fists._

_He chuckled, a low rumbling sound that did just as much for her libido as his touch and then she was tensing up again as he reached for her panties. He tapped her hip lightly with his middle finger and she rose up letting him slide them down her legs. She breathed out shakily, bare in front of him-This all-but stranger; this older man who stirred things in her and made her want so much._

_She closed her eyes for just a beat as he settled beside her, pressing his body along her own._

_His cock was hard against her hip and one leg was wrapped around her own. He palmed her breast, craning his neck to take her mouth with his own. Cutting off her gasp and sending volts of electricity through her body. She could feel herself relaxing; her legs falling open just the tiniest bit as his fingers found their way there, between her thighs._

_He bit into her bottom lip as she moaned, turning the meek sound into a loud wail as his finger speared into her._

"_Does it feel good, Korra?"_

"_Y-Yes."_

_He peppered kisses along her jaw as his finger worked into her. He moved onto his knees, crawling between her legs and down until his mouth could join his hand. She screamed, head thrown back as his hot mouth sucked at the bundle of nerves above her folds. The area she herself would touch to bring herself to orgasm in the privacy of her own room._

_But this…this was so different that anything she had ever managed to make herself feel. And when he curled those talented fingers inside of her something ruptured, breaking free in a rush of wet sensation. Her ears were ringing, white light clouding her vision as she floated back to earth. _

_She blinked and he was there, already settling over her, hard member pressing at her and then before she could breathe, he was thrusting inside._

_She hadn't expected gentle, she wasn't that naïve. She hadn't really known what to expect, but it wasn't this brutal assault. This bridging of all her gaps at once, this plundering take over._

_He was sitting back on his haunches, her ass resting against his thighs so that she was lifted at an angle as he thrust into her. He lifted her legs over his shoulders until she was folded like a pretzel and he was fitted so deeply inside of her that it was almost painful. He was relentless, the same deep strokes over and over until the pleasure was overwhelming, the slight prickle of pain just adding to the sensations._

"_Oh gods!" she gulped for air, her skin tingling all over._

"_Yes, let go, Korra. I want to see you come for me again." _

_Her eyes shot open, watching him as he watched her, his expression intense and blue eyes piercing. _

"_Noa!" she sobbed his name, her body quaking under him, bucking up to meet his thrusts. She came undone, her legs slipping from his shoulders and falling limp on either side of him._

_He groaned, pressing down on her hipbone with bruising force as he fucked her. Fucked her until she could feel it all building again, that delicious pressure and then he was coming. Jerking out of her and spilling onto her skin._

_Later, after they had cleaned up in a hot shower and teased each other under the spray with open mouthed kisses and touches that burned, they dressed. The ecstasy of the last few hours gave way to awkwardness and for Korra…a strange sense of emptiness._

"_Will I see you again or was this a one-time…uh…," she attempted when she stood in the hall near the door, ready to leave._

_He smirked from his spot against the door frame, "You know where I live, and you're the Avatar. I don't think that anyone could keep you out if you truly wanted in."_

"_That's true," she grinned, genuinely enjoying his playfulness._

_His eyes narrowed at her suddenly and her head slammed against the wall as he took her lips with his, leaving her dazed. When he pulled away she was out of breath and shaking, blackness dotting her vision. He stepped away from her and she stumbled before being caught in strong arms._

"_Don't fall," his voice rumbled through his chest, his tone broaching a warning she chose not to hear._

"_I won't."_

_._

Oh how she had lied. She had betrayed everything that she believed about herself. Given in to something carnal and cheating herself in the process. And he had known that she would. Had made it impossible for her to not.

She fell in love.

She fell in love with a man unworthy of her affections and incapable of returning them.

Well played, Korra.

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_Her fingers curled around the light dusting of hair on his chest, swirling over his nipples before sliding down to his abdomen and resting there. Outside it was almost dawn but she was in no hurry to move._

_They were both awake, having just made love for the third time that night and she wasn't sure that she had the energy to crawl out of his bed even if she wanted to._

_She had been coming to his apartment every night for the last few weeks, but tonight was the first time she stayed until morning. The first time they awoke beside each other, her head on his chest and his arm wrapped over her hip. She breathed in the scent of his skin, musky and damp, before pressing a kiss just under his chin._

_Rain was just beginning to patter against the window and she felt herself sigh, unwinding even as she stretched out her legs, pointing her feet and spreading her toes, catlike._

_The first signs of stubble had appeared on his cheeks and she reached up and cupped him there, tilting his head down so that she could reach his lips. Tasting the tang of his morning breath on his tongue and excited to learn this new aspect of him._

_Noatak in the morning. _

_She frowned slightly, there was still so much that she didn't know about him. She had so many questions. Lightning flashed outside the window, lighting his face, and a few moments later thunder sounded in the distance._

_His eyes found hers in the dark, "What?" he asked, noting her expression._

_He was so much older that it made her feel inadequate somehow. What if he had experienced all kinds of things that she didn't know about? Did he ever have a wife? Children? What about his parents, he barely mentioned them, only his mother and that was only once._

"_Korra?" _

"_Have you ever been married?" she blurted._

"_No."_

"_Have you ever been in love?"_

"_Does it matter?" his eyes were cold as he sat up, staring at her harshly._

"_No," she answered quietly. But it did. For some inexplicable reason it did._

_He was always good at sensing her moods. In the short time that had been together he could always seem to intuit her disposition. Maybe he truly was a mind reader. His face softened in an unusual display of empathy. If she had been paying attention she would have noticed how it sat strangely on his brooding features and didn't quite carry to his steely eyes. _

"_Korra," he said her name so softly, so reverently that for a moment her heart ached. He leaned over her, his hands finding her thigh beneath the sheet._

"_Noa," she replied against his lips, knowing that her heart was lost but too happy to care. She decided to push everything else aside. His past was unimportant. He was here, now._

.

She had somehow always known that their time wouldn't last. She could never have a normal relationship. Her life as the Avatar would interfere somehow.

It just didn't happen in the way she expected.

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_Tenzin had noticed a change in his student. She was distracted, more so than usual. Her gaze was unfocused and her training was beginning to suffer. She still pushed forward with of her strength, her determination behind each movement but there was an obvious shift in focus. _

_It hit him one night when she left early after dinner, saddling Naga and escaping into the city._

_She was mooning. _

_The Avatar was a teenager. With all of the hormones and infatuations that came with that delicate age._

_He found himself paying greater attention, noticing her absences; and taking note of the red rings of exhaustion under her eyes, when she arrived back on the island in the early morning hours and tried to pretend that she had spent the night in her own bed. Tried to convince him that she had been where she was expected to be, all along._

_And he let her believe that her efforts were working. He didn't let her know that he was aware of her late night escapes, that he had discovered a part of her secrets._

_When she brought the boys from her pro-bending team home for dinner one night, Tenzin watched their interactions with interest. He had easily assumed that she and the older boy, Mako had fallen into a relationship._

_Even he hadn't been able to avoid Ikki and Jinora's wild whisperings about Korra's crush on her team captain._

_But when he looked with the intent of really seeing, he could see that her interest in the boy had seemed to wane. This was not the young man who had her so in a tizzy._

_Mako, however, appeared to realize her lack of attentions as well and found this fact disconcerting. He would watch the darker girl avidly, trying to capture her eyes with his. Subtly leaning into her as she spoke, touching her shoulder, her arm, her hand at every opportunity._

_Yes, the fire bender had realized his feelings even when the Avatar had discarded hers. _

_Her interactions with Bolin were even more obviously innocent. They were Friendly and comfortable, but without the warmth that lovers would share._

_Without the heat that poured from Mako's gaze, the gaze that Korra so steadfastly avoided._

_Tenzin frowned, wondering how much of her life he was actually privy to. For if not one of the two boys sitting at her side, then who was she running off to see? Who was she spending her nights with, in secret? Concealed in the cloak of darkness._

_He was beginning to worry for her. Unsure of what his limits should be as her teacher. He couldn't stop her; he had learned that long ago. She would do as she wished. But if he could just gain some reassurance that she was OK…_

_It was the next night, when he found her saddling Naga again that he finally approached._

"_Korra."_

"_T-Tenzin, hi!" her eyes were shifting to the side, panic making her shoulders rigid. "I was just-"_

_He cut her off with a wave of his hand, "You don't owe me any explanations, Korra."_

"_I don't?"_

_He smiled, "No. Your business is your own and I will trust your judgment. But, Korra, if you're in trouble or there's anything that you need to talk about. Pema and I will be here for you." He offered quietly._

_Her eyes grew wide, the oceanic blue wet with relief and something else. Something he couldn't discern._

_She nodded, her head falling to the side slightly, "Thank you, Tenzin," she whispered as he began to turn away._

_Guilt fell on her like a wave. She knew that she hadn't been as focused as she should be. Noa had fit into all of the cracks in her life, filling them up and then stretching and taking root in the other areas until he was all that she could think about. It had been a month now, a month of sneaking away into his bed and pretending that the rest of the world didn't exist. That a revolution wasn't brewing in the underground and that she wasn't failing in her duties as the Avatar to bring peace and end oppression._

.

**I will trust your judgment**

It ached, even now to know that she hadn't been deserving of his trust. That she had let them all down so completely.

For nothing.

For a lie.

.

_She continued to see him, keeping their relationship hidden and sneaking out after dark._

_Her focus had come back a bit, just on sheer determination. It wouldn't do to devote herself entirely to Noa, no matter how distracting he could be. She still had her duties and they came first. _

_She was a mess of tired limbs and exhaustion when she made her way into his apartment. Her fingers finding the key hidden under the mat and twisting it into the lock._

_It had been a big day, meditation and airbending, then pro-bending practice with the boys and studying. The Avatar needed to know history and politics as well as the elements, after all. It was expected._

_She dragged her feet over the threshold, flipping on the light switch by the door._

"_I'm here," she called, removing her boots by the door and sliding into a pair of his house shoes. They were overlarge on her but she loved them, there was just something about wearing his clothes that she had come to like._

"_Noa?" only silence greeted her as she moved through the kitchen and into the main room._

_She checked the bedroom and shrugged when she didn't find him there._

Must be out_, she thought. _

_Deciding to wait for him, she flopped onto his bed with a grin, hugging his pillow to her chest and pressing her nose into the fabric. It smelled of him- Of salt and rain water, masculine and clean with a hint of spice. _

_Her scent had begun to change as well, she had noticed. Over the last month and a half she had begun to smell more like him. Think more like him, act more like him. He was rubbing off on her, changing her._

_She liked to think that she had become more mature but knew that it probably wasn't true. The changes were small, little turns of phrases that she had picked up from him would fall from her tongue. Hand gestures that were so plainly his had become a part of her body language. His devious smirk had been adopted into her round of expressions._

_He had become a part of her._

_She laughed at the sappy direction of her thoughts, and smiled at the ceiling. Her stomach grumbled and she decided to dig around in his cupboards while she awaited his return._

_She tugged the pantry door open and frowned when she looked inside. He didn't keep the place very well stocked. There was a bag of rice and some potatoes. A sack of flour and sugar._

_She huffed out a breath and turned to his refrigerator, finding eggs and not much else._

_It was enough to work with. It wouldn't be an impressive meal but maybe he would be appreciative. _

_She imagined him coming home from a long day doing one of his odd jobs for cash and the smell of potato rolls, eggs, and rice filling his nose. Her cooking skills left something to be desired, she was no Pema by any stretch of the imagination, but she could make due._

_Noa wasn't prone to great displays of warmth, but sometimes she could surprise him and something would pass over his eyes. Some emotion that she clung to. _

_Her smile faded slightly._

_He confused her, sometimes he could be so warm, burning her skin and making her feel so much. Making her feel until her mind was blissfully empty. He was better than any drug._

_He could make her forget it all, just for a moment. It was addictive and terrifying. His ability to make her forget herself, Her duty. His ability to break her down into being just Korra, Korra's needs and desires, when her life had so revolved around being the Avatar since…forever._

_She had always been searching for way to claim her existence as her own. To assert her own identity. She had done that in three big ways since arriving in Republic City: Pro-Bending. Befriending Mako, Bolin, and Asami. Deciding to give in to the way she felt so drawn to Noa and to find out what that meant._

_He was hers. Only hers. A secret that she didn't have to share with the world. A precious thing that she didn't have to give up when they all asked for so much, too much of her._

_She let her eyes fall shut and breathed out slowly, brushing away her thoughts before turning to the task at hand. She grabbed the crate of eggs from the fridge and placed them on the counter, gathering her ingredients._

_She tapped a finger against her lips in thought as her eyes wandered the kitchen. They alighted on the small cathedral style radio on the far counter and she smiled._

_Some music would be nice._

_She turned the knob to power it on and began to tune it to her favorite local station when her heart leapt into her throat. A familiar dark drawl sounding through the canvas covered speaker._

"_Good evening, Republic City, this is Amon."_

_Her heart was thudding against her chest, the combined reverberations of his voice behind the mask and the microphone that he was dictating into washed over her making her feel sick._

_She had never truly recovered from their showdown at Avatar Aang Memorial Island. Still haunted by nightmares of feeling helpless and hopelessly alone._

"_Tonight I invite you all to see a _true_ show at the Bayside Cinema House."_

_Purpose flowed through her, resolute and strong. Bravery and boldness tightening in her gut._

_Noa would have to wait. She had something that she had to do._

_She tugged her boots on, the radio still droning from the kitchen and fading into the hall as she rushed purposely out the door._

_There was a time to be Korra and a time to be the Avatar. Right now, the City needed the Avatar._

_._

The truth never occurred to her. The signs had been so easy to ignore. The hints had been so miniscule, especially given the fact that she didn't want to see the truth. Didn't want to know what had been staring her in the face, peering at her from the shadows.

Manipulative blue eyes laughing behind the safety of a mask.

.

_Anger was rolling off of her in waves as she approached the Cinema House. She pulled on Naga's reigns to bring her to a stop before throwing her leg over the Polar Bear Dog's head and sliding from the saddle._

"_I'll be fine, girl." She mumbled reassuringly as Naga bumped her back with her head. "Stay here."_

_Outside of the Theater people were running around, the occasional burst of lightning from a glove or kali sticks lighting the night like camera flashes._

_The police were already there, but they were suffering, falling back in the face of the barrage. _

_She rushed in, calling the elements to her hands with thoughtless grace._

_She noticed him immediately, somehow drawn to his intensity. The air vibrating around her._

_The man in the mask was at the top of the half-moon entrance steps, their eyes met for a beat before Amon turned and walked inside of the building._

"_Coward!" she yelled, knocking down an equalist with a blast of flame before shoving through the crowd and making chase._

"_Korra!" she could hear Lin yelling after her but didn't slow down. This was the Avatar's fight, always had been._

_She tore through the heavy double doors with a bang, her eyes darting and pupils dilating to see in the dark, unfamiliar environment._

_A rush of fabric caught her attention by one of the theater doors and she ran through the lobby, tossing an arc of water after the figure as she spun in the air._

_She pushed inside the room and stopped. The theater was draped in red. Over 200 chairs covered in velvet the color of poppies. Blood red curtains covered the large screen at the front, dripping from under an ornate arch and beautifully detailed pillars._

"_Welcome, Avatar. We were afraid that you wouldn't make it." His voice called from the left and her head shot to the side and up, seeing him in one of the balcony boxes, white porcelain glowing in the dim lighting. _

_Her eyes widened and then hardened, she cracked her knuckles and called the earth. She rose under a stalagmite of cement until she could leap over the railing, coming at him with brutal force._

_**Focus, Patience**__, she could hear Tenzin chanting in her ear but she could not heed his wisdom. Not now when her nightmare was here, in the flesh, and adrenalin was coursing through her._

_He was dodging her attacks, twisting under her fireballs and rising up and out of the way of her charges of water and earth._

_Quick as an arrow his hands were flying forward, knocking the air from her as nimble fingers hit the pressure points near her shoulders._

_She gritted her teeth, kicking her feet outward and colliding with his side. Flames licking up the length of his ribs until he hissed behind the mask._

_His fingers gripped her hips and her legs became useless, she was falling backwards, against the balcony railing when she was grabbed around the waist and held up against a hard body._

_She gasped, fear clenching in her chest and breathing loud in her ears._

"_Don't fall," he growled, voice distorted by the mask, and she froze._

_One gloved hand reached up and caressed her cheek, as a lover might. As Noa often did._

"_I'm so sorry that I missed our meeting tonight. You didn't wait up, did you?" Her blood became like molasses in her veins. Her stomach curdling and her brain stinging with denial. _

"_No...,"she managed in a whisper. His mask was cold against her skin, a sickening feeling of violation overtaking her as _**that**_ voice slid past her enemy's porcelain lips._

"_I had hoped that you wouldn't find out so soon but my little Korra is relentless in all of her goals. You pursue Amon the same way your pursued Noa. Single-minded, brash, and passionate. Completely _mindless_ of the trap._

"_But I'm glad you came, we wouldn't want to waste the night would we?"_

_Her eyes slid to his, shock and betrayal weighing her down. Everything was happening too slowly and too quickly all at once. He pulled back, glaring into her eyes for long beats until she could recognize every facet of that blue that she had come to know. To love._

_Love._

_She felt sick, she was going to throw up._

_Suddenly he was spinning her in his arms, pressing her down onto her elbows and knees and shoving himself between her legs._

_She couldn't grasp what was happening at first. Her mind still clouded with shock, her body numb, but then his hands were at her hips, gripping the waist of her pants tightly and ripping them down her thighs. He didn't loosen the ties first and the rough tug made the harsh wool of her pants push into her skin, painful and tight._

_He grunted as her ass was revealed to the air and then with a quick shift of cloth he was thrusting inside of her. She gasped, fingers scraping at the carpet as he slammed into her._

_His touch was so familiar, the feel of him inside of her was so well known to her that her body responded against her wishes._

_He knew just how to touch her, just what she liked. He had studied her body for weeks._

_He had betrayed her and now so had her body._

_His fingers found her clit and he was circling it with quick little flicks that sent lightning shooting through her body as he thrust into her harshly._

"_So tight, Korra," he moaned in her ear, his voice deep and dark. Multi-tonal behind his mask._

_It was building inside of her. A storm was brewing just under her breasts as he pumped into her body, tilting his hips so that his cock would hit, just _there_, inside of her. His skin was slapping against her own and she was pushing back against him, meeting his thrusts and hating herself._

"_Noa," she whispered and the pain was obvious in her voice. _

_He groaned, his fingers sliding over her skin and his breath gusting against her neck, wheezing through the mask. A tortured sob ripped through her even while she came, quivering around him._

_He pressed into her roughly, tugging her ponytail back and wrapping it around his fist, holding her in place so that he was sheathed inside of her deeply. And then he was talking to her, whispering things into her ear that she didn't want to hear. Propaganda about bending and bigotry as he slammed into her._

_Words of possessiveness and ownership. Laughter at her naivety. Manipulative and cutting remarks used as weapons to break her down until silent tears were sliding down her face and then he was coming, hot and fast into her. Grunting her name._

_He pulled out of her quietly, righting his clothes and watching with disinterest as she slumped forward and rolled onto her side, pulling her knees up until she was in the fetal position._

_And then he was leaving, his boots clicking against carpet and hardwood as he left her there, curled into herself on the floor. Only one thought spinning through her mind._

_The man who she had spent all those nights with, all those weeks sneaking away just to share an hour with him- To feel the comfort of his presence and the pleasure of his touch. The man who she had foolishly followed back to his apartment and who she had returned to every night thereafter._

_The man that she had given her heart to. Her innocence._

_That man was Amon. _

_The same man who chased the nightmares away was the same person who featured in them, covered by a mask. She retched._

_She wasn't sure how much time passed before she pushed herself to her feet and wandered back out of the building. The fighting was over, cops being treated by medics on the stone steps and bound equalists being herded into police cars._

_One arm was wrapped around herself, holding the opposite elbow as she stumbled into the night._

"_Korra!"_

_A jumble of voices reached her ears but it was the boy in the red scarf who caught her as she fell, wrapping her up into strong arms and fire warmth._

"_You're safe," he mumbled into her hair soothingly and she allowed the rest to float away. The angry scarlet of his scarf became a lifeline to the present, filling her gaze and burning away her tears._

_Scorching violent red behind her eyelids. Like hatred. Like blood._

_Like her broken heart._

_._

There was a time, once, when she believed that Mako's rejection was the most painful, heart wrenching feeling that she could ever experience.

His rejection had burned. But-

Noa's betrayal left her numb. Cold.

It felt as if a part of her had died. As if she would never know warmth again.

She felt unworthy. Used, manipulated. She was a husk, a shell of a person.

Fueled by hatred, hurt, and rage.

She was the Avatar, and she would fight back.

_._

_Her chance for revenge was delayed. Minutes and hours speeding into days and weeks of feverish rage, until the sickness had seeped into her skin and down into her blood stream. _

_Until she could think of little else but seeing him again and what she would do when that time came._

_How she would yell and scream and fight. _

_She finally got her chance when Hiroshi's secret workshops were discovered underground._

_She didn't rush in, she had learned from her mistakes. She approached the situation slowly, stalking her prey. But he had been expecting her. The hunted becoming the hunter, turning all of her hard work around on her._

_He separated her from her friends with a well-timed smoke bomb, his hand covering her mouth as he dragged her away from the fight. He pulled her into a small room with a harsh yellow light baring witness to their meeting._

_She was planning her escape, noting her exits and looking for possible weapons. She pushed against him as soon as he let her go, her feet flying up towards him and fire springing from her toes. She would take him down. She would make him pay._

_Suddenly she was lifted into the air, her arms snapping to her sides. She couldn't control her own body, she was trapped, all of her plans crashing to her feet._

"_W-What?" How was he doing this? _

_She could feel the thump-thump, thump-thump of her heart and then he was forcing her to the ground. A glint in his eyes as she kneeled in front of him._

"_You're a bloodbender?" as soon as the words came to her lips she knew they were true._

_Fear was clawing at her chest and she wanted to scream, wanted to break free. _

_He stepped forward, his arm above his head and then his hand was falling towards her brow._

"_NO!" he couldn't do this, he couldn't take her bending. He couldn't take everything from her, when he had already taken so much._

_His hand shifted to the side, caressing down her cheek instead. _

"_It's good to see you again, Korra," he said, laughter lacing his words._

_She was completely at his mercy. Helpless and alone. Her heart was racing._

"_Do you know why you came?" he asked, his thumb sliding down to trail over her full bottom lip._

"_Are you here to fuck or fight?" _

_She whimpered, wanting to tug herself out of his grasp but frozen in place._

"_Because I know, I can tell. The beautiful thing about blood bending is the ability to read people at their deepest level. Right now your blood is positively rushing in your veins. I can even feel how ready you are. I can sense the swelling between your legs. You are __**so**__ wet, Korra."_

_A tear was sliding down her cheek, unchecked. Embarrassment and anger driving her to weeping._

_He lifted his hand to her forehead again, pushing down with his thumb between her eyes until she cried out again in fear. His fingers speared through her hair, scraping at her skull and tugging her head back painfully. _

"_Do you know that I could stop your heart if I wanted to? I could make your blood flow so sluggishly that your body would just __**give out**__._

"_Ahh, there's the real fear. So death is more fearsome than the loss of what makes you the avatar? I wouldn't have guessed that. All of your bravado of saving the world, creating balance…Is your vessel more important to you than that?_

"_Wouldn't it be better to die and be reborn, with all of your strengths, than to lose those same strengths? Lose the tools that you claim will help you save us all? You're more selfish than I thought, Avatar Korra."_

_His words stung. The truth of them ringing home and resonating cruelly. _

_He watched her, head tilted to the side in a move that spoke of a level of sympathy that she knew he didn't have._

"_Should I cut to the quick? Would you like me to end this?"_

"_Fuck you."_

"_We've already done that, countless times. But be patient, I'll be sure to take care of your needs before I'm done."_

_She hated that his words made her shiver. She hated it even more that he could __**feel**__ her reaction._

_He stepped away from her, reaching up to slide back his hood and undo the leather strap that held his mask into place. He quietly set the porcelain mask down onto a small desk in the center of the room before facing her again, hands clasped behind his back. _

"_Have you ever heard of the myth of Perseus and Medusa, Korra?" The question was so bizarre, so unexpected that a laugh bubbled up in her throat, cutting off the sob that had been forming when he revealed his face. Seeing him, her lover, unmasked was almost more than she could bear. It drove the truth home in a different way, like a spike in her chest. _

"_You may think that I am the monster. But I'm the hero. I'm Perseus. I created the movement that will shield the people from destruction. And I have used you as a weapon to move things forward. I am your __**mirror**__, Korra. I have exposed you for what you really are. For what the Avatar is- An unnatural __**beast**__ of destruction."_

_She could feel rage coiling under her skin._

"_And what are you, Noa? A __**bender**__ who initiated a war against bending?"_

"_I am a pawn, as are you, in a scheme much greater than either of us could have imagined," his voice was serene, as if awe-filled by his own sense of purpose._

_Movement caught her eye in the corner of the room, and she quickly snapped her attention back to Noatak. Hoping he didn't notice her momentary distraction._

"_You're crazy!" she shouted, holding his gaze even as he crumpled to the ground._

_._

He was right. In those final words, before Mako took him down with a bolt of lightning that allowed them to escape together. Amon was right, or half right, which ever.

Amon may have acted as Perseus to her Medusa, he may have forced her to see to the faults of the Avatar, of bending- the flaw in being human and therefore weak to corruption.

But, after long cathartic talks with Jinora over old tomes of mythology, she had come to realize that for Perseus, just the act of seeing Medusa had always meant his owndeath. He needed the mirror to survive. Korra would destroy his _movement_, his mirror, until he was without protection. Without the aid of his shield of lies.

And then, she would hunt him down.

This time with no hesitation.

It was almost funny that Medusa's visage had once been popularly used as a _mask_. Not a mask like Amon's, used for disguise and deceit.

But as an apotropaic mask. Used to ward off and prevent evil—For Athena and Zeus her face worked as a talisman that could both kill and redeem. _The Aegis._

Instead of her head, he had ripped out her heart, and she was better for it. More focused.

She would redeem herself, she would be the avenging angel. Rising high after falling so far, and no night could cloak him from her now.

He had corrupted her, turned her into a beast, and manipulated her into something a bit more like _him_.

She would use these tools to her own advantage.

…

"Now there's no holding back, I'm making to attack

My blood is singing with your voice, I want to pour it out

The saints can't help me now, the ropes have been unbound

I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallow'd ground" –Howl by Florence and the Machine

…

**A/N: **

**Medusa as an Archetype**  
She symbolizes the following:

Sovereign female wisdom. The female mysteries. All the forces of the primordial Great Goddess: The Cycles of Time as past, present and future. The Cycles of Nature as life, death and rebirth. She is universal Creativity and Destruction in eternal Transformation. She is the Guardian of the Thresholds and the Mediatrix between the Realms of heaven, earth and the underworld. She is Mistress of the Beasts. Latent and Active energy.

**The Gorgoneion/Mask of Medusa: **

The eventual disposition of Medusa's head varies from tale to tale. Some say that Athena used it on her shield, the Aegis, for a while, and then gave it away. Others say Persephus buried it in the marketplace of Argos. Images of Medusa were found in the temples of Artemis, who also sometimes wore a Medusa mask at some rites. Her image was also found on doors, flags and in cups. It was used to scare evil spirits away.


End file.
